The Faith of America's Hottest VP Candidate

As surely everyone now knows, John McCain has now tapped Sarah Palin, a former beauty queen turned Governor of Alaska, as his running mate. Several publications have referred to Palin as "America's Hottest Governor."

For weeks, the Southern Baptist Convention's "Ethics" guru Dick Land has been pushing hard for McCain to pick Palin. Land described Palin to a CBS reporter as a "person of strong faith."

So what exactly is Governor Sarah Palin's "faith" ?

A thorough search of the internets didn't turn up many specific results. However, several bloggers have reported that Palin is a "regular attendee" of Church on the Rock in Wasilla, Alaska where Palin grew up and served as Mayor. According to this newsletter (HT: Dallas Morning News), we know that has a history with the Assemblies of God denomination. The newsletter mentions Palin's junior high pastor and current Alaska State Superintendent, Ted Boatsman, who once pastored Wasilla Assembly of God (belief statement here). The newsletter also mentions that when in Juneau Palin attends Juneau Christian Center, a Pentecostal congregation.

Here's some info on Church on the Rock in Wasilla where Palin supposedly attends when not in Juneau.

Church on the Rock is a rather new congregation. It began in January, 2000 with seven families. The church quickly outgrew their sanctuary which held 200 people and now holds two services on Sunday mornings. Read the history of Church on the Rock here. Their doctrinal statement can be found here. No mention of the Bible as inerrant. Their doctrine statement describes the Bible as "inspired by God, the Bible is truth without any mixture of error."

The senior pastor of Church on the Rock is a guy named David Pepper. However, Church on the Rock lists a female on staff as a "Pastor." Laurie Miller and her husband Chris Miller serve as "Equipping Pastors" at Church on the Rock.

And here's a bit about Palin on a few social issues:

According to the Boston Globe, Palin believes that abortion should be banned for any reason other than saving the life of the mother. She opposes stem cell research (I assume that means she opposes EMBRYONIC stem cell research). She opposes physician-assisted suicide. She opposes giving state health benefits for same-sex partners. And she supports a constitutional amendment to bar such benefits.

Here's where she gets a little kooky.

Palin believes that creationism should be discussed in public schools. Here's Palin from a couple of years ago:

Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides."

On Church-State issues:

When asked during a debate how she would feel if she walked into a church and heard a minister or pastor endorse a candidate for governor, Palin responded:

“A pastor, a priest, a rabbi, certainly they have the freedom to say whatever they want to say. And you know, thank the lord that we do have that freedom of speech....Faith is very important to so many of us here in America, and I would never support any government effort to stifle our freedom of religion or freedom of expression or freedom of speech...You know, I would just caution maybe a pastor to be very careful if they’re in front of a congregation and they decide to endorse one candidate over another. You know, there may be some frustration with that candidacy endorsement being made manifest by a few, fewer dollars in the offering plate, so I would just offer that bit of caution. (laughing.)...But, no, I’ll tell you, freedom of speech is so precious and it’s worth defending and of course freedom of religion and freedom of expression will be things that I will fight for.”

Religious Right leaders are already gushing over McCain's VP choice.

Here's Dick Land:

"Governor Palin is a vice-presidential selection which shows that John McCain at the age of 72 today is still able to think outside the box. Governor Palin will delight the Republican base. She is pro-life. It appears that Senator Obama played it safe in picking Senator Biden and Senator McCain made the bold and unconventional choice in picking Governor Palin."

I'm not an expert on the Presidency. But would Sarah Palin's selection as VP make her the first Pentecostal on a major party ticket?